Audio Stop 608

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We look onto the side of a rowboat crowded with nine men trying to save a pale, nude young man who flails in the water in front of us as a shark approaches, mouth agape, from our right in this horizontal painting. In the water, the man floats with his chest facing the sky, his right arm overhead and the other stretched out by his side. Extending to our left, his left leg is bent and the right leg is straight, disappearing below the knee. His long blond hair swirls in the water and he arches his back, his wide-open eyes looking toward the shark behind him. To our right, the shark rolls up out of the water with its gaping jaws showing rows of pointed teeth. In the boat, eight of the men have light or tanned complexions, and one man has dark brown skin. The man with brown skin stands at the back center of the boat, and he holds one end of a rope, which falls across the boat and around the upper arm of the man in the water. Another man stands at the stern of the boat, to our right, poised with a long, hooked harpoon over the side of the boat, ready to strike the shark. His long dark hair blows back and he wears a navy-blue jacket with brass buttons, white breeches, blue stockings, and his shoes have silver buckles. Two other men wearing white shirts with blousy sleeves lean over the side of the boat, bracing each other as they reach toward the man in the water. An older, balding man holds the shirt and body of one of this pair and looks on, his mouth open. The other men hold long oars and look into the water with furrowed brows. The tip of a shark’s tail slices through the water to our right of the boat, near the right edge of the canvas. Along the horizon line, which comes three-quarters of the way up the composition, buildings and tall spires line the harbor. The masts of boats at port creates a row of crosses against the light blue sky. Steely gray clouds sweep across the upper left corner of the canvas and the sky lightens to pale, butter yellow at the horizon.

John Singleton Copley

Watson and the Shark, 1778

West Building, Main Floor - Gallery 60B

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JOHN SINGLTON COPLEY, WATSON AND THE SHARK

[sound effects: splashing]

ACTOR: WATSON

Help!

ACTOR: MALE
Grab the rope! Hurry, hurry, it’s getting closer! Get him in the boat!

FEMALE NARRATOR

A 14-yearold boy thrashes in the water as a terrifying shark approaches. The shark draws closer, opening its powerful jaws to attack, revealing sharp, dangerous teeth. The boy’s mouth and eyes are wide open in fear. He and the shark are just inches away from one another. He reaches his hand up toward his rescuers.

In the boat, just beyond the boy’s reach, sailors are trying to save the boy. Look for a man pointing a harpoon, men steering the rowboat toward the boy, a man holding a rope that dangles into the sea, two young sailors leaning out of the boat, desperately trying to reach the boy, and an older sailor hanging on to the shirt of his shipmate. Study the sailors’ faces. How would you describe their expressions? Anxious? Scared? Panicked? Determined? What do you think will happen next?

This is a painting of a true story. In 1749 a young sailor named Brook Watson was swimming in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, when he was attacked by a shark. His shipmates rushed to help him. The artist decided to depict the scariest moment of the story. The shark had already attacked Watson twice, pulling him underwater and biting off his right foot. Notice that the water in the lower left corner is tinted red with Watson’s blood.

The shark circles around for the third time. The sailors struggle to rescue Watson and kill the shark.

The sailors were heroes: Watson did survive the shark attack! It took him 3 months to recover. Because he lost his foot—his leg was amputated below the knee and he was fitted with a wooden leg.

Watson grew up to be a successful businessman and politician in England. Almost 30 years after the attack, he hired John Singleton Copley to paint his miraculous survival story. Watson hoped it would inspire others to overcome life’s challenges.

Copley was an American artist who moved to England during the time of the American Revolution. Because he had never been to Cuba, he studied maps and prints of Havana in order to create an accurate background view of the harbor’s buildings and ships. Copley had never seen a tiger shark, and he was a little less successful with that depiction. Notice the shark’s oddly shaped nostrils, strange lips and ear. It may not be an entirely accurate portrayal, but it’s still pretty scary!

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